To begin the camera obscura project for my room, I started by taking a thick piece of cardboard, tracing various sized circles on it, and cutting it them out. Different size circles were used to give varying pinhole diameters for later experimenting to see which would give the best image.

IMG_0887

I then turned off extraneous lights, including those from my computer and the lamp in the room. Lowering the blinds, I could better see where light would leak in from the outside.

IMG_0894

Next, I began covering the windows to block all outside light. For the main window, I cut large black trash bags and attached them to the window. I covered the window, them measured and cut out a hole for the piece of cardboard with the pinholes in it. I lowered the shade for the left window, taping the edges down the prevent light leaks. On both, I added trash bags at the top where the shade did not cover.

IMG_0897

IMG_0900

IMG_0961

IMG_0962

After the windows were covered, I took a trash bag and sealed the crack under the door to prevent light from entering. With the room fully dark, I opened the pin hole and began experimenting with the different diameters. After finding which diameter worked best, I attached a large piece of paper to my bureau and made a sketch of the image projected.

The final result as a before/after can be seen here: